


By Hand, By Heart

by Lenore_V



Category: Naruto (Anime) RPF
Genre: Hyuuga Neji - centric, M/M, Palm Reading References, descriptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenore_V/pseuds/Lenore_V
Summary: Hyuuga Neji had learned a long, long time ago that you could tell a lot by a person's hands.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji/Rock Lee
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	By Hand, By Heart

Hyuuga Neji had learned a long, long time ago that you could tell a lot by a person's hands. 

His father would always hold his hands before he dozed off. He wasn’t exactly sure when he had committed himself to learning each crease and fold of his father’s palm, but he could trace his father’s hand from memory, or maybe by heart - if he could convince himself that he still had one that day.   
His father’s hands were big, with long, stocky fingers stretching out from his palm, short, wide fingernails - he said that having long nails got in the way of his taijutsu. The lines that criss crossed over the softer, but still rough part of his hand were broken and faded, a sign of hard work and strength, and there was a certain dip in the middle of his hand, almost as though his palm had repurposed itself after years of using the gentle fist. Neji would place his thumb in the center of the dip, his hand barely big enough for his fingers to brush over his father’s second knuckle, and simply not yearn for anything - a feeling he had almost forgotten with enough time. 

His uncle’s hand felt like lightning. The moment he felt Hiashi’s hand strike him across the face, he was suddenly the helpless little boy that he could never truly get rid of, the one with the bow smile and round cheeks, and - the cruelest part of all - a fresh, green seal across his forehead. He could spend all his time building his walls, carefully crafting each brick, but the wall cracked, like a shield that could not protect any longer, when he felt that hand make a moment’s contact with his cheek.   
Hiashi’s hands were awfully like his fathers, a thought that made Neji’s eyes go blank with confusion. But Hiashi’s fingers were longer than his father’s, and unthinkably cold, like ice and hail. The line at the very bottom of his palm was long and thick, and someone had once told him that that meant someone would have a lengthy, fulfilling life. And as though it didn’t sting enough, the true irony was that his father had a crease running from the base of his middle finger to the base of his hand - called the “fate line”, he believed - while Hiashi did not. 

Hinata’s hands were pale, with thin fingers extending from them. But if you looked closely,you could see blisters and calluses healing and tearing, and her fingernails were ragged and dirty and weak - Neji supposed it was a testament to how little attention his cousin paid to herself. Hinata’s palm’s were crossed with lines that wavered and broke, with the occasional mark from pressing her nails hard to the tender flesh. Neji had once casually mentioned that her life line was long, like her father’s. She muttered that she’d rather it be shorter.   
They continued dinner in silence that night. 

Rock Lee’s hands were Neji’s favorites. They were rough, calloused and stocky, with thick fingers to match, and they felt cool to the touch - not cold, but cool. His lines were thick and bold, digging across his palms, so damendly fitting to Lee’s bright, earnest, undeterred personality. Zhis fingernails were dulled down to the thinnest stripe of white, and his knuckles were scabbed from years of fighting, training. Lee sailed against the wind, and he had the hands to prove it. 

So, when Lee, clasped Neji’s burning hands in his own that night in the woods behind the Hyuuga compound, and ran them over Neji’s freezing arms, who was he to not just accept the touch, and think for a moment that all was well - that all was left in capable hands.


End file.
